This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments described in the present disclosure. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects described in the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of any prior art.
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing materials, typically in solid forms, to a pressurized system. Specifically, the systems and methods of the present disclosure involve providing material to a pressurized system that can include more than one receiving unit.
A lock hopper is typically used in supplying coal to a coal gasification furnace. Generally, the coal is conveyed from a container to a lock hopper where the coal is pressurized by pressing an inert gas into the lock hopper. The coal is subsequently passed from the lock hopper to a gasifier with at least the same pressure as that in the gasifier. The coal is typically fed into the top of the gasifier using gravity.
While a plurality of lock hoppers have been employed, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,729,105 and 4,695,214 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2011/0206469 and 2011/0100274, these methods still do not efficiently provide material to a pressurized system, particularly one that contains more than one pressurized receiving unit. The present disclosure describes systems and methods that provide improvements for a more efficient feeding of materials to a pressurized system that can comprise one or more receiving units.